


Young and Beautiful

by ZoisiteMoon



Series: The Gemstone Saga [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, written prior to "Story of Steven"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23420224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoisiteMoon/pseuds/ZoisiteMoon
Summary: Greg Universe has had just about some of the worst luck in his young life so far, but everything changes when he treks out into Beach City, California in 1991 in hopes of becoming a famous rocker and especially when he meets an angel. Can he turn his life around just yet?
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Characters(s), Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Series: The Gemstone Saga [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/285567
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fanfic I wrote before my first relationship ended poorly. I just figured I'd archive it here for nostalgia's sake. Enjoy!

**July 16, 1991**

Life hadn't been treating him kindly as of late. His parents Shep and Stella were dead, he and his sister Adrienne had been estranged for a while (at least on Adrienne's side), he hadn't had any success with his music so far (he had been touring in his van for three months straight from Washington state to California), and his love life was practically nonexistent. Where did he go wrong?

Maybe it had all started back in April on Shep and Stella's wedding anniversary night. They had been driving along the cities of Aberdeen and Chehalis on the highways in order to get to their favorite anniversary tradition, Carmine's Italian Restaurant which was located in Kennewick. For the two fifty-something-year-olds, that place had been one of their favorites of all time since their relationship had begun in 1965 at a restaurant just like it. As those fond memories trekked through their minds, they kept driving along and they surely would've made it had it not been for a drunk driver suddenly and devastatingly rear-ending them.

Neither of them even had enough time to react, and especially not Shep who had been behind the wheel. He was violently thrust forward, his head colliding abruptly with the windshield and blood spilling out of the gashes the glass shards made when they embedded themselves into his skin; almost an instant later, he was dead.

As for Stella, she had been left with a broken neck, a great deal of internal bleeding, and a spinal cord severed below her head.

When the police and paramedics arrived several minutes later, Stella was whisked off to the nearest hospital that could be found. During the ambulance ride there, the redhaired fifty-something-year-old woman couldn't resist panicking and crying out for her dead husband and flailing her arms about, and all while she was bleeding to death. By the time they finally arrived, she had already lost consciousness. The next morning at 7:15 A.M., she was pronounced dead.

Greg had remembered being at the funeral later that week, but trying his damndest not to cry in front of his sister and everybody else who was there because it seemed like a _totally_ uncool thing for a rocker like Mick Jagger or Don Henley to do. But all that got him was nothing more than passive-aggressive glances that seemed to imply scorn and disgust.

So he decided to go on tour not only to console himself, but also to try and start living his life without them while also keeping them in his heart.

Yet here he was now. There were no concert profits to reap from, he was practically homeless, he had no sort of job to speak of (it didn't help matters he had dropped out of high school years ago), and he was so desperate for fame that he had even resorted to changing his last name to Universe.

His latest stop was Beach City, which just so happened to be a few miles away from where his aunt Carole (Shep's kid sister) and uncle Jared lived. Surely, he'd able to attract _some_ fans in this small town, right? Well, there was only one way to find out...


	2. Chapter 2

He decided to park at the back of a Motel 6 and sneak along the back in order to catch whoever might've been staying there totally off-guard. It was pretty late at night, so to speak, so the poor lighting allowed him to go all the way up to the front undetected. After all, he figured, almost all of the potential fans were probably asleep anyway and this would be a great way to wake them up. Better safe than sorry...

"Alright, now to plug the guitar into this speaker..." Greg muttered as he was doing so in the front parking lot.

When he was done, he quickly looked over the hotel rooms that were immediately facing him. He then began strumming at the strings of his beloved electric guitar, which he called "Kathy" after an unrequited crush of his. Before long, what resembled an amateur musician's take on a rapturous melody began playing and he and Kathy couldn't bear to stop. The music emerged with imminent success, but all the guests that just woke up were not amused.

"Hey, turn that down, you jerkoff!" someone yelled from outside a motel window.

"Can't you see we're trying to sleep?!" another person shouted without showing himself.

After that remark, Greg sighed dejectedly. Somehow, nobody here seemed to have appreciated what he was trying to do. Still, he kept playing only to progressively strum softer and softer until the sounds that ensued could barely be heard anymore. Great, just great. He looked over the hotel rooms again, this time in desperation for a miracle to occur. He was so focused that he didn't seem to notice a faint pink aura suddenly materializing out of the corner of his eye.

"Goddamn it..." he mumbled, figuring it was a part of a police siren. His first night in this small town and he was already in trouble with the cops.

However, he had to look again when the aura became significantly brighter and found himself face-to-face with one of the most beautiful women he had ever met in his life. Where had she come from? Surely, he was hallucinating or something.

"Hey, man!" the would-be rocker shouted at her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'd ask you the same thing." this mysterious woman answered, slightly confused herself.

"Well, I was just trying to get these guys' attention is all."

"Really? I could hear your mating call from three miles away. That was so cool!"

"Mating call? What are you talking about?"

"That song you were playing. You were using it as a mating call, no?"

"What? No, I was just trying to play a song for these guys so I could be famous."

This woman, Rose Quartz, tilted her kinky-haired head to the side. "Oh. I see. So can you tell me your name?"

"Yeah, I'm Greg Universe."

Rose Quartz gasped. "You're a child of the Universe?"

"Not really. 'Universe' is just my last name."

"Okay, well, I'm Rose Quartz."

"Rose Quartz, huh? What a strange name for a pretty lady."

Greg had expected Rose to take offense to that last statement, but oddly enough her facial expression didn't seem to change nor she did seem even the slightest bit angry. Maybe she had gotten used to it after a while, but who knew? At least she seemed to be taking a fancy to him. With that out of the way, she shrugged and said, "Anyway, I'd like you to come home with me."

"Are you sure?" Greg asked. "We just met."

"Oh, absolutely!" she perked up. "I hope you like what we've done to the place."

"We?"

"Oh right. I've got friends living with me. Please stop by. You'll love them!"

The would-be rocker thought about this for a minute and then said, "Alright, if you say so."


	3. Chapter 3

Rose had led her new friend to the Crystal Temple where she and her supposed friends had been living for several decades. It was a pretty exciting evening for her; first she'd travelled by herself up to Fontana for the very first time and now she was showing off somebody she'd just met barely a few hours ago.

The first Gem to spot the newcomer right away was Tanzanite, who by now had gotten so used to Rose's antics outside the Temple that she didn't even bother commenting anymore.

"Ooh, who's this fellow character?" Tanzanite asked inquisitively.

"He's Greg Universe and he wants to be famous!" Rose perked up.

"Is he from around here?"

"I don't know." The pink-haired lady turned to face her new friend. "Where _did_ you come from?"

"I, uh, came from all the way up there in Washington." Greg answered with a shrug.

"So what are you doing here?" the blue Gem asked again.

"Trying to become famous like she said."

Tanzanite pursed her lips. "And I'm guessing it has something to do with courting people with an instrument?"

"Well, not exactly-"

However, the long-haired and blonde Zirconia cut him off right then and there just as she was making her way besides the blue Gem. "You want fame? Here? Dream on."

"Zirconia." Tanzanite growled under her breath. "How could you say that to this human? You're unbelievable."

"Well, 'scuse me, Tanzanite." the synthetic Gem answered. "But I think if he wants to be famous, he should go back home."

That last part made the long-haired rocker cringe so badly that he retreated back into his mind. How would he tell these strangers that he couldn't just go home? that he didn't have a home to go to anymore? He couldn't just come out and say that, of course not. Then they'd probably mock him the first chance they got.

Tanzanite turned to face her guest and bailed him out of this embarrassing situation. "Don't worry about what she just said." she assured him. "She hasn't mastered the art of subtlety yet."

"Thanks, uh... Tanzanite, right?" he asked just to be sure.

"Yes, my name is Tanzanite." the blue Gem said calmly. "The lady beside me is Zirconia, the girl over there..." She pointed at the milk-white Gem Pearl who was verbally dueling with the violet Gem Amethyst at the moment. "...is Pearl and her adversary is Amethyst."

"Wow..." Greg answered with amazement. "Your names are cool. Are you guys part of a cult or something?"

Tanzanite desperately wanted to punch him in the face for asking that, but she kept herself composed anyhow and instead answered, "No, we're not. We just happen to be a group of tightly-knit friends, is all. Besides, I'm not finished introducing you to everyone." She gestured him towards the sealed door and led the way. "Jade and Diamond and Garnet are inside with the children."

"Who are they?"

"Well, I'm about to show you."


	4. Chapter 4

As Tanzanite led her guest into her room, she couldn't help but notice how amazed he was by all this.

There seemed to be an infinite amount of space here, not to mention a giant collection of parasols and bullet guns dating back to the seventeenth century as well as a five-foot-long petrified wood table. The path they were walking along also seemed to be illuminated by some sort of bluish-violet radioactive light from beneath the translucent tiled floor, and it was perfectly aligned with every step they made. Right along the end were Jade, Diamond, and Garnet like Tanzanite had said a little earlier; and like she had stated then as well, the kids Aquamarine and Fluorite and Topaz happened to be there.

"Just a group of tightly-knit friends, huh?" the twenty-year-old human Greg asked like he was somehow disbelieving of his hostess's answer.

"Yes, yes we are." Tanzanite politely insisted. "Don't we act like friends to you?"

The guest shrugged to himself again and said nothing. Tanzanite took it as an inconclusive answer and moved on to introducing everybody in the room.

"Jade?" the blue Gem called out to the green muscle-bound Gem. "There's someone here I'd like you to meet."

Jade quickly craned her neck to meet Tanzanite's face. "Who's this hippie and what's he doing here?" she asked while scrunching her face in concentration.

"Isn't that the guy Rose brought here earlier this week?" Aquamarine asked as well, tilting her head in the process.

"No, he isn't." Tanzanite answered. "His name is Greg Universe and Rose says he seeks fame here."

"...I see." was all the hot-pink Garnet had said to that.

"I gotta say, he doesn't look like he'd be a child of the universe. He looks more like a hobo." the bluish-black Fluorite commented without the slightest bit of irony.

"He's not a child of the universe, Fluorite." Tanzanite was quick to point out. "That's just his name, or so Rose says." She shook her head a bit. "Anyway, if his expression is anything to go by, I believe he's unable to go back home for whatever reason and he needs to stay somewhere. If you'd like to, he can stay here for the time being." She briefly glanced at the darling orange Gemling Topaz. "And yes, Topaz, that includes you too."

"Well, actually, my aunt Carole and uncle Jared live just a few miles from here." the long-haired rocker quickly spoke up. "I could just stay there."

"But wouldn't you like to stay here, at least for just one night?"

"I don't know... I just met you guys."

"Please just stay here for now. I promise you'll be with your aunt and uncle later. We don't mean you any harm, honestly."

The long-haired rocker thought about it for a second and acquiesced. "If you say so... but remember what you promised me, alright?"


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Tanzanite decided to get out of the house and take a stroll through part of Beach City. She felt she deserved a break from her human guest driving her crazy with stories of his parents and sister and cousins and some girl named Kathy. How surprising it must've been for the Gems to have a guy as insecure as he seemed suddenly talking up a storm about his life story; at least, it must have been for somebody like her or her pupil Pearl.

But enough of that. She had some reflecting to do here. She couldn't remember the last time they had encountered anybody like Greg; well, maybe except back in 1969 when a whole entourage of Woodstockers making their way to Illinois decided to settle in the temple, and stink up the entire place with their "herbs" and whatnot. (Twenty-two years later, the drugs' odors were still lingering around here.) But this human only seemed interested in the wickedly-enchanting rock 'n roll and looking cool. At least he didn't seem to pose a threat to her or the other Gems.

As she expounded further into this man's character, she suddenly came across a familiar, effeminate face.

"Zoisite?" the blue Gem asked with suspicion, a little confused by his appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? I was on my way to tell your group that it was time for Diamond to go back home and rule her country." the pure-white Gem answered rather smugly. "I'm not too late, am I?"

Tanzanite craned her neck to look afar at where she had started. "I should hope not." she answered calmly. Something about this seemed wrong.

Well, this kind of encounter always seemed wrong as if her gut feeling hadn't made it apparent already. "If you'd like, I can lead you back to the temple."

"Thank you, but I'd rather she came to me instead."

"That might take a while. This is much faster."

"And how might that be?"

Tanzanite had to think of something quickly to answer his question. "We could teleport there. It'd only take a few seconds."

"Fine." Zoisite huffed.

And they did just that. When they got inside, Amethyst was dozing off on the couch while Zirconia was sitting at the counter and Jade was upstairs reenacting her glory days as a gladiatress with Garnet. The synthetic Gem only glanced at Zoisite's crystal eyes once before she started tremoring and wildly shrieking like a monkey. She then quickly jumped down onto the floor and curled up into a ball.

"Zirconia, calm down. He's just here to retrieve Diamond." Tanzanite tried coaxing her.

"Dear God, please don't let him hurt me again..." Zirconia blubbered as she continued to stay on the floor, locked in that position.

"I won't, believe me." Tanzanite assured her.

"Hey! What's with all the screaming?" Jade asked as she came down the stairs with Garnet following right behind her.

The two Gems, especially Garnet, then took a gander at Zoisite.

"...what are you doing here?" Garnet asked as she was silently starting to seeth with rage.

Tanzanite calmly explained for him, "He's just here to take Diamond back home. Don't worry, I promise I won't let him hurt anybody while he's with me."

"Let's hope you don't." Garnet said before she became quiet again.

Just as she'd said that, though, their guest from last night suddenly came back in search of something he'd accidentally left behind earlier.

Zoisite noticed him right away, and the white Gem could feel the blood in his body begin to boil and undulate asunder.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Greg asked while having his head tilted at this strange man. "I just came back for Kathy, that's all."

"Not now, Greg. As soon as Zoisite leaves, then you can get your guitar." Tanzanite spoke to him, this time in a hushed tone.

"Okay, why?"

"Well, let's just say he doesn't have a very good history with your kind. Your mere presence is pissing him off right now. Just leave now."

"But Kathy..."

"Just go."

"My cousins are going to be so disappointed if they don't get to meet her. And what about my aunt and uncle?"

Zoisite then gasped softly enough for nobody to hear him. This human had family... Perhaps he could go after them and make him wish he were dead that way.

Tanzanite immediately realized what Zoisite was going to do once he got ahold of these family members, and proceeded to scold the human while keeping her hushed intonation intact. Now their lives were in danger and it'd be his fault for telling him this information. What the hell had he done?


	6. Chapter 6

After Zoisite had left with Diamond, Greg Universe went over to his aunt and uncle's the next few miles over in Eureka. He wasn't alone, though. Rose Quartz and Zirconia decided to tag along as well. For the pink Gem, it was because she wanted to see what his family was like and for the synthetic Gem, she just wanted to be by her buddy's side. When the three made their way over to the place, Aunt Carole was the first to make her presence known.

The first thing that drew the two Gems' attention was her short ash-brown hair. It was cut neatly at the base of her neck and managed to make a nice frame for her diamond-shaped face. The rest of her consisted of a pretty gaunt figure (not as gaunt as Pearl's, though), dark chocolate brown eyes, pencil-thin lips, a thin miniscule nose, and an almost-tan complexion. This did not make her look like the aunt of a would-be rocker, but it did give off the appearance that she was indeed a mother of three children, albeit a bit younger than initially supposed.

"My goodness!" was the first thing to come out of Rose's mouth. "You must be so patient having to put up with someone like Greg."

Carole shrugged awkwardly and said, "Well, when you've got children as rambunctious as mine are, you'll know when people like my nephew start feeling like a walk in the park to get along with."

"Well, if you have to know, you can't just walk through a park like back at home. How do you even get by such places without having animals pop out and try to kill you?" Zirconia asked while scratching the back of her head, confused by the "walk in the park" comment.

"No, I didn't mean a literal walk in the park." Carole explained. "It was just a metaphor."

"Metaphor, huh?" Zirconia tilted her head at this. "I can't say I've ever heard of one before." Then she coyly said aside to her friend, "These humans must have the strangest conversations ever if they're using these 'metaphors.'"

"Hey, Mom!" a thirteen-year-old girl's voice called out. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just some friends of your cousin, Gwen!" Carole called back. "Get out here so you can meet them!"

"Yeah, okay! I'll be right there!" Gwen yelled once more.

A few seconds later, she left the living room and joined her mother and the guests.

Thirteen-year-old Gwen had just had her birthday last month, and yet it didn't look like puberty had set in yet. However, she looked remarkably healthy and fair-sized and she also dressed modestly. She had her mother's ash-brown hair and diamond face, her father's gray/blue eyes, his arched nose, his pale complexion, and a wine-colored heart-shaped birthmark along the right corner of her lower jaw.

"So these must be his friends? Let me guess, he snagged them from his concert?" Gwen snarked.

"Gwen, please." Carole hushed her. "Your cousin is not like that. They're... uh, what are you two exactly?"

"We're Crystal Gems, ma'am." Rose spoke up. "We only live a few miles away from here."

"Right." Carole muttered almost a bit out of disbelief. She then spoke up, "Why don't you two come inside and join us for dinner?"

"A-Are you sure?" Zirconia asked uncertainly. "You don't think your husband and the other kids'll freak out when they see us, do you?"

"Of course not." Carole said with a nervous laugh. "They're your biggest fans. Well, Johnnie and Parker are; I'm sure Jared could care less, really."

"So could I." Gwen deadpanned. "But... I guess it wouldn't kill me to have you over."

"What did she mean by...?" Zirconia was about to ask again before Carole cut her off. "Metaphor, right."


	7. Chapter 7

Inside the Zimmerman house, Carole sat at the barely-oblique mahogany dining room table with her husband Jared, her daughters Elaine (or Gwen, as she preferred to be called) and Johnnie, her seven-year-old son Parker, her aspiring rocker nephew, and the two guests who came with him. At first, dinner was relatively quiet among the seated until Carole asked, "So how was everybody's day today?"

"Alright." Jared answered calmly.

"Fine." Johnnie said.

"Amazing!" Parker squeaked.

Gwen was the last of the immediate family to speak up. "Everything was great until Re-Todd came back from Fontana." she grumbled. "And you wanna know what was worse than that? He came back with ticks on his butt! This must be the fourth time this month he's gotten ticks on himself."

"Well, be thankful you didn't get any on yourself." Carole warned her eldest daughter. "Besides, I'm sure Todd wasn't the only one to come back with those bloodsucking freaks." She then turned to the rest of the guests who were seated. "Anybody else want to contribute?"

Finally, it was Greg's turn. "Well... yesterday, I was making my way through Beach City, right? So I was trying to find a place to park and I happened to come across this Motel 6. Anyway, I parked right there and I was trying to get some fans, but they just didn't appreciate what I was doing..."

Eleven-year-old Johnnie, with her pretty dark brown eyes and gappy smile, prompted her cousin to go on.

"...so anyway, I was about to give up right then and there..." he continued. "...when this pretty little angel came along." He pointed, right then and there, at the lovely Rose Quartz. "I know it's only been a day since we met, but I think I might be in love."

"Congratulations, buddy." Zirconia cheerfully said. "You're under the influence of Projection."

"Projection? What's that?"

"Projection is where you see her... and your heart isn't what's keeping you alive anymore. It's just... her."

"Sounds like you know the feeling."

"Oh, Greg..." Zirconia shook her head and laughed to herself. "...you really have no idea how much Rose means to me, do you?" She sighed abjectedly. "I'd do anything for her, and I do mean anything. Why, I think I'd even-" Suddenly, she squeaked out loud. "Excuse me, I think I just projected in my outfit."

Jared instantly knew what she meant and pointed her towards the bathroom. "You might want to change in there." he suggested. "I don't want the kids to know where babies come from just yet."

Zirconia got up and headed that way while the rest looked on. After the synthetic Gem got in and shut the door behind her, everybody else got on with their conversations at the dinner table.

"Okay, where were we now?" Jared asked after a brief moment of silence. "Oh yeah, I think we were just talking about how our dear nephew met an angel last night."

"Yeah, that must be it." Carole agreed. "And I can hardly believe how beautiful she looks." She craned her neck to have a look at Rose's face.

"She looks like a Disney Princess!" Parker piped up.

Rose was heavily blushing at those comments; it almost felt like the blood vessels in her face were going to burst right then and there. It seemed like more of these comments would be coming her way when knocking could suddenly be heard at the front door.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Rose heard the knocking on the door, she went over and asked who it was.

"It's us, Rose!" Pearl yelled from the other side. "We just got word that Zoisite plans to come back and go after us!"

"What? Why?" Rose asked in confusion.

"I think it has to do with the human and his family."

"His name's Greg, you know."

"Whatever. We need to find a way to stop him and we've got to hurry!"

All that time, Aunt Carole had heard everything that was said and she couldn't help but feel that she had everything to lose. She abruptly got up from the dining table and left.

* * *

**Meanwhile in the Mineralis Dimension...**

Atop a gargantuan two-toed creature that appeared to be a camelid with an anteater's head, Zoisite and his Vivianite companion, a young purplish-hued male named Lemhi, were making their way to the Temple of Orthoclase and Hackmanite on the Chalcopyrite-Spodumene border. Zoisite had said something about wanting to pay the oracle of the temple a visit and he decided he wanted to do it now; naturally, Lemhi decided to seek help from one of his master's other slaves, Scolecite, on this and ask for directions to this sacred building.

"So where'd that salmon-colored bastard say we should start off from again?" Zoisite uncertainly asked Lemhi.

"The Zeolite Brothel, Master Zoisite," Lemhi answered. "and then we were to pass by some coniferous trees with giant gem-cones, stake off a whole garden of omnivorous yonic flowers, and lastly Scolecite said to keep a lookout for migrating pneumatic jellyfish. Apparently, it's mating season right now, so I suspect we might see some baby medusae along the way soon."

The white Gem scoffed at this. "Those jellyfish are more trouble than they're worth, if anybody asks." he said. He glanced back at the shrinking Zeolite Brothel as they rode away from there on the humped, tube-mouthed creature. "And to think the goddamn people don't even seem to bat an eye at those gross, blobby creatures..."

"Well, they don't really do much of anything to even warrant giving a crap about them... unless they were somehow provoked."

"Oh, yeah, like I'm the only one who'd try to piss off a bunch of jellyfish. You're unbelievable, Lemhi."

Soon, the Hellenistic bordello became nothing more than a tiny dot in the distance and the two Gems now began to make their way through the conifer-lined fields.

Lemhi wasn't kidding when he had mentioned the giant gem-cones; the opaque crystal strobili were roughly the size of a seal pup and only slightly weighing down the branches they were on. Zoisite stared and stared at these gem-cones, and he might've done so forever and ever if only he didn't have to worry about having the second-highest government position in his nation. Anyway, while his violet-hued slave steadfastly rode the two-toed animal, he let his sick fantasies of his fellow Queen Diamond and bittersweet memories of his former child brides Ruby and Tellurite roam free.

Suddenly, the duo and their ride screeched to a halt to find a young female Rodalquilarite hanging from a noose in one of the trees. The grass-green Gem looked like she had been in that position for hours, and quite frankly it was a miracle that she still hadn't retreated into her gem after all this time.

"Ye Gods!" Lemhi exclaimed. "Master Zoisite, look!"

Zoisite briefly snapped back to reality to see for himself. He couldn't help but notice that the victim's wrists and ankles had been bound and her mouth had a ballgag in it. Moreover, she had been swinging wildly in all directions ever since she was hanged.

"Your goddamn tribe can't leave well enough alone, can it?" the white Gem muttered, assuming Lemhi's tribe had been responsible for the act. He then said, "Alright, Lemhi. Cut her down. I think she's suffered enough."

That, the purplish-hued Gem proceeded to do. He quickly dismounted their furry organic vehicle and then within a matter of minutes, summoned a hatchet from a gem sliver on his chin, and then threw the weapon over his head at the noose around Rodalquilarite's neck. It cut her down within a matter of seconds and she fell back down to earth.

* * *

**Back on Earth...**

**July 23, 1991**

_So I'm back, to the velvet underground_   
_Back to the floor, that I love_   
_To a room with some lace and paper flowers_   
_Back to the gypsy that I was_   
_To the gypsy... that I was_

As Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy" played that morning on the living room radio on the Zimmerman family's favorite station KWPT, the matriarch Carole sat alone inside the bedroom she shared with her husband Jared and- very recently -her aspiring rocker nephew (though he chose to sleep at the foot of their bed like a dog). The very thought of someone coming after them and killing them just for existing was daunting, and it didn't help that he sounded like he'd known Rose and the other members of her group. Now what was she supposed to do?

"Mom?" called Gwen from behind the door. "Are you in there?"

"Just a second, honey." the forty-one-year-old woman called back to her daughter.

Carole waited until she heard her daughter leave and then almost immediately began to cry into her pillow. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a bad dream, right? All she'd have to do was wake up and everything would be back to normal. Unfortunately, her brain had to remind her, this was all too real. Whoever this Zoisite was, he sounded pretty monstrous.

Out of the blue, she heard the door creak open again. This time, it was Rose who had invited herself in.

"What do you want?" Carole asked calmly while just barely obscuring her face into the pillow.

Rose said, "I just wanted to see how you were doing, is all." She sat down besides Carole and looked down. "You're upset about what Zoisite might do, aren't you?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, my friends and I are gonna do everything we can to stop him."

"You are?"

"Yeah, but that might be hard..."

Carole lifted her head to take a gander at her guest. "Why? He'll kill us if we don't do something!"

"First of all, he can shoot lasers from his eyes. Second, he can create lightning. Lastly..." Rose trailed off for a bit and sighed deeply.

"Lastly what?"

"...he was once a friend of my dad's."


	9. Chapter 9

"Your dad?" Carole asked her.

Rose solemnly nodded her head. "Yeah, he says they used to be good friends back in the day." she answered.

"So what happened to change all that?"

"Well... apparently, my mother drove a wedge between them. I never met her, so I don't really know for sure."

"You never met...?" Carole was at a loss for words. She then said, "Oh, Rose, I'm so sorry. My mother died just a few years ago." She reached over and patted her pink-haired companion on the shoulder. "So then how do you know about this Zoisite man once being friends with your father?"

"Nephrite told me about them when I was a child."

Carole tilted her head back slightly. "Nephrite? Who's that?"

"He was the Queen's second-in-command before Zoisite took his place. He was also like my father and my husband."

"There's a Queen involved?"

"I'll explain later."

* * *

**Meanwhile in the Mineralis Dimension...**

After trekking across several miles of conifer-lined fields, a garden with omnivorous yonic flowers, and a religious cult that may or may not have been worshipping Jesus, Zoisite and Lemhi had now made it to the Temple of Orthoclase and Hackmanite. Of course, Rodalquilarite had decided to pledge her undying loyalty to them after they'd saved her and come with.

"We're finally here, guys." she announced right after their camelid parked near the temple entrance. "That was totally worth it, right?"

"Yeah... it sure was." Lemhi laughed nervously. He didn't know if he was feeling nauseous or just uncomfortable around her. "Well, after this, how about we take you home?"

"Home? You kidding? I never wanna go home after this. I'd rather travel with you guys!"

"And we appreciate that, Miss Roda. Honestly." He then turned to Zoisite and muttered, "How can you possibly stand this girl, Master? Her loyalty is making me sick!"

"Well, when you've had a wife who acts just like her, you get used to it." Zoisite laughed as he remembered Tellurite once again.

"What are we supposed to do with her once we get to Earth?"

"I'm sure we can think of something. Now let's go inside. _Agite nunc!"_

As soon as the trio entered the temple, they were greeted by a blue Gem who appeared to be a Hauyne. She had deep blue skin, a shorn head, bluish-gray eyes, and an oblong face. There was a distinct ankh-shaped mark on her cheek and it appeared to be the color of faded ink. She also had on an elaborate navy-hued headdress and a blue toga that reached the floor.

"Greetings, fellow priestess." the white Gem said when he saw her. "How are you?"

Hauyne just smiled.

"I see." he responded. "Well, could you please bring Priestess Gneiss out here?"

The blue Gem nodded her head and then left for a moment. When she returned, a light blue Gem with an oval face and a sharp nose followed right behind her. This new Gem was High Priestess Gneiss; she had light grayish-blue skin that looked a bit dry, slate-blue eyes with star-shaped pupils, and iron-blue hair with lighter jagged horizontal lines running along the bottom. Her outfit consisted of a simple Greek headdress decorated with a lavender feather and a strapless dress made from smoky gray Iolite silk.

"You were asking for me?" the high priestess asked her guest.

"Yes," Zoisite answered. "I'm the Chancellor of Chalcopyrite. You've heard of me, correct?"

"Oh yes, we all have, especially Hauyne." She pointed at the darker blue Gem. "Speaking of, she's mute and has been for several years now." There was a brief pause. "Well, aren't you going to introduce your slaves to me?"

"Right." The white Gem gestured to Lemhi. "This is Lemhi, a Vivianite who has been a member of my household since he was young. Rodalquilarite, on the other hand..." He glanced at the juvenile green Gem for a minute and continued, "...is a recent addition."

"Good to know. Now tell me: what brings you three here?"

"We were planning to off a human and several members of his family..."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"...he appears to have some sort of connection with Rose's group. Now I'm not sure why, but I have a bad feeling that he might impregnate one of them and create a half-breed. Doesn't that concern you at all?"

"The thought of human-Gem hybrids rearing their heads again after several millenia on Earth? Maybe. But why do you want this human and his family killed when they don't seem to have done anything wrong?"

"These humans have destroyed everything they've ever touched and we could be next! Why, I'd swear by Obsidian herself that they could find their way here and have us all wiped out! Is that what you want?"

Gneiss thought about this for a moment and then decided, "Very well, but it's not me you should be asking to look into the future. That honor belongs to Baryte, the second-most beautiful Gem alive."


	10. Chapter 10

Before long, Baryte came before the trio and established her presence. She was a heavyset yellow Gem with a round face, an arched nose, plump lips, and a pear-shaped body. Her orange tightly-curled hair was pulled back in a dark brown multilayered headband and hung over the back of her head. Like her fellow high priestess Gneiss, she also wore a strapless dress but this was made instead of a gaudy yellow cloth imported from Tourmaline.

"Thank the Pantheon you're here, dear oracle!" Zoisite cried out with joy. "My fellow slaves and I came all this way to ask something of you."

"What did you have in mind?" Baryte asked the white Gem.

"We were wondering if you could predict the birth of a human-Gem hybrid, a half-breed if you will."

"Well, you came to the wrong oracle for this one."

Zoisite made a wincing sound and said, "I already warned Priestess Gneiss about the possibility of humans overrunning this dimension. Don't tell me I'll have to warn you too."

The high priestess turned her attention to the oracle. "It might not be impossible, you know. They're very destructive creatures and they could very well have us all killed if they ever decide to colonize this dimension."

"Very well." Baryte sighed. She then took a deep breath and chanted, " _Chrysocolla, oculis omnis oculus, da mihi ante omnia et futurum esse mendacem._ "

After she spoke the last few words, a green orb materialized before her and presented a rather interesting image. It showed a naked baby with Rose's gem located where its navel should've been; among other things, this child also had wisps of dark hair and eyes that looked suspiciously like Rhodochrosite's (except they were a much darker shade of pink). Looming over this strange child was some human woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties; could she possibly be related to the human Zoisite had come across while on Earth?

"Dear God..." the white Gem muttered.

"There's more to it than that." Baryte said.

"No..." he whimpered. "That can't be right. It _isn't_ right!"

"So Master, what do we do now?" Rodalquilarite asked eagerly.

Without turning to face his companion, Zoisite replied, "We're going to see to it that that child will never be born and we shall start by going after that human..."

* * *

**Meanwhile on Earth...**

Rose Quartz sat inside the Zimmerman house, watching the night sky above. The rest of her friends were back at the Temple preparing for their battle with Zoisite while the pink Gem decided to stick with Greg and his family. She'd never dreamed she would be in love with someone from a different species, much less a human; in fact, out of all the humans she and her friends had encountered on Earth, he was probably one of the nicest. Sure, he seemed pretty awkward, but she thought it was rather cute. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted, however, when seven-year-old Parker came along and sat by her.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked the young boy.

"I can't sleep." Parker lamented. "I'm afraid Zooey-Site might get me."

"Well... we all are, Parker. I mean he's a pretty powerful guy, just as much as I am. And I haven't seen him in years so I don't know what he'll do."

"But you're gonna stop him, right?"

"That's right, Parker."

"You promise?"

Rose chuckled. "I promise. Now go back to sleep."

With that, Parker got up and ran back to his room. As soon as she was sure he was gone, she got up from the living room floor and started pacing. Before she could even start thinking about her beloved again, the front door swung open. It was Zirconia.

"Oh, Zirconia!" Rose exclaimed. "Nice of you to drop by!"

"Rose, why aren't you back at the Temple helping us come up with a plan?" Zirconia questioned.

"I thought I'd just collect my thoughts here."

"Your thoughts...?" Zirconia scoffed at this. "Let me guess: you're thinking about that human Greg, aren't you?"

"Not right now. What could you have against him anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's that he's trying to steal you away from us?!"

"He's not stealing anything from anybody, Zirconia, especially not me. Every single time I've been here, I've come of my own volition. You were with me when we had dinner here, remember?"

"Well...well..." Zirconia was fumbling with her words. "If you love him so much, why don't you just live with him and leave us to die, huh?!"

That really did it for Rose. She tried her best to compose herself and she thought over her words carefully, and then she calmly began, "You know, Zirconia, I understand that you've been very fond of me for the last few millenia or so; but what you just said was so unbelievably offensive that I can't even begin to tell you how much it hurt. How dare you suggest I'd have the nerve to just leave you to die at the hands of an old enemy. Is that how you expected to repay me after everything I've done for you, for Pearl, for Amethyst, for everybody? Maybe I was wrong about you..."

The blonde Gem softly gasped. "Rose, I didn't mean it like that..."

"Just go back to the Temple, please." Rose sighed. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Zirconia silently walked out, leaving her pink friend alone once again.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoisite, Lemhi, and Rodalquilarite had now made their way to Earth, specifically on the side of a long stretch of road in the outskirts of Fortuna. They had just now decided that they were going to pose as hitchhikers in order to stealthily make their way into Eureka, but not before Rodalquilarite had started complaining about not getting to socialize with the priestesses back at the Temple of Orthoclase. Naturally, this grated on the white Gem and his violet-colored Vivianite slave.

"Master, do you think there's a way we can ditch this Gem without her noticing?" Lemhi asked Zoisite with his voice hushed significantly.

"Not now, Lemhi," Zoisite dismissively said. "I'm sure she'll come in handy sooner or later."

"I hope you're right, Chancellor, 'cause I've been sick of her 'encouragement' ever since she decided to come with. My God, I wish we'd left her hanging back there!"

"Don't be so cold, Lemhi."

A little later, Rodalquilarite spotted an incoming sea-green 1955 Ford Thunderbird coming towards them from five miles away. It didn't take long for the other two Gems to notice this.

"Quick!" Lemhi shouted. "Change your forms!"

A young Taiwanese woman just happened to be barreling along this small and empty road. As she zoomed along in her T-Bird, she was singing along- and rather horribly at that -with a woman about a Golden Age Hollywood actress's eyes. In fact, she was so mesmerized by the song on the radio that she almost passed by a strange white figure standing by the road.

Zoisite, of course, had assumed the form of a mysterious fur-clad young lady, complete with a snow-white fur cap and unbelievably long eyelashes. As for Lemhi and Rodalquilarite, they had shapeshifted into the woman's pets, a long-haired Chihuahua for the latter and a Rex rabbit for the former.

The Taiwanese woman almost immediately braked her car and craned her neck to look at the stranger.

"Hey there!" the young enthusiastic Asian girl cried out. "You need a ride?"

Zoisite walked over to the driver's side and said, "I guess that'd be alright. Thanks." He took a quick look at the vehicle and then cautiously got inside and sat next to her. "So, um, where you heading?" he asked as the woman resumed her trip through the road.

"Eureka." the Asian woman answered with confidence. "You?"

"Same."

"Neat-o. What's your name?"

It didn't take long for the white Gem to come up with a pseudonym. "I'm Luna. Luna Lavender."

"I'm Angie."

"Very nice to meet you, Angie. Say, do you know about the Crystal Gems?"

Angie shook her head. "Sorry, man. Never heard of them."

Zoisite frowned a bit out of pity. "That's too bad. They seem like interesting folks around here."

"Whatever. By the way, your pets are cute. What are their names?"

He answered quickly, "Amazonia and Petal."

Angie giggled at this and kept driving. She didn't seem to pay much attention to Zoisite's attempts to keep calm inside the two-seat convertible. Rather, she was more focused on the journey to Eureka and she was determined to make it.

A few hours later, they'd made it to their destination. Before Angie could be on her way, she asked the hitchhiker what his opinion on humanity was.

"Terrible, just terrible." he answered solemnly. "Anybody asks, they should all be killed... starting with you."

Angie's eyes widened and her pupils shrank. She'd heard of misanthropes and had even met at least one of them, but she'd never met a misanthrope who'd be so willing to kill their own. In fact-

But before she could process the implications of such a thing, Zoisite had already shot a bolt of lightning at her car and blown it up. With that out of the way, Zoisite and the other two Gems reverted back to their regular forms and began making their way to the human family's house.

* * *

**Meanwhile inside the Zimmerman house...**

Rose had retired to the living room couch and was now watching a rerun of "Gunsmoke" for the second time. It was infuriating trying to ignore how insensitive Zirconia had been, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been rather harsh with her herself. Yes, what Zirconia had said was very much uncalled for, but then having the woman who'd saved her from her abusive master tell her that she might be reconsidering her opinion of her was probably the last thing she wanted to hear. Maybe next time she saw the blonde Gem, she'd apologize for her choice of words.

Anyway, she reclined on the couch while thoughts about what'd happened earlier stewed a bit in her mind. Times like these made her wish Nephrite was still around to help her. (In fact, she'd probably try to rectify that one of these days [after all, she'd had what was left of his gem stored inside her own], but for now it was out of the question.)

All of a sudden, a loud crash could be heard from the master bedroom.

"What was that?" she asked as she scrambled to get her feet on the ground.

Realizing that Carole and Jared's lives were going to be in peril, Rose swiftly got up and made her way to the source. To her surprise, Zoisite just happened to be standing before her while his back was turned to a large, uneven hole in the wall. It was then that memories of this figure from the past started flooding back; in a way, he almost seemed like a trigger.

"Zoisite?" she loudly gasped.


	12. Chapter 12

"Yes, what of it?" the white Gem Zoisite retorted rather nonchalantly.

"What are you doing here?" Rose Quartz asked while now standing her guard.

"I couldn't help but notice that you made friends with this human's family."

Rose's mouth was agape. "So I've heard! Who told you?"

"Nobody did, actually. I figured that out myself."

"You're lying!"

It was then that Greg suddenly woke up for some reason and mumbled rather groggily, "Huh? What's going on?"

Rose turned to look at him. "Greg," she sternly said. "You need to leave. Now."

"Okay," he yawned before sluggishly getting up off his aunt and uncle's bed and moving on to the living room.

After that was done, Rose diverted her attention back to the Chalcopyrite chancellor. "Now Zoisite," she began. "I'm just going to say this once and that's it. If you ever try to hurt these people, I will see to it that your gems are so cracked that not even I will be able to heal them."

Zoisite could feel his blood pressure rising and his mouth creak open. Then as if out of nowhere, an idea was born. "Hurt them, you say? Well in that case, I shall go ahead and do just that."

"You wouldn't dare..." she growled.

But he did. He extended his arm toward where Jared was sleeping and the electricity began to build up in his hand. Rose was frozen stiff, conflicted on what to do next. She watched as the electricity continued to build up in his hand and now in the entirety of his arm. She knew she had to do something and quickly, but she still couldn't help but worry about the electricity he was accumulating for himself. Just as he was about ready to fry Jared in his sleep, Rose summoned her shield and threw it so quickly and abruptly that it sent her opponent flying across the hole and onto the ground. The electricity shot out of the white Gem's hand and into a nearby telephone pole, blowing out a pylon transformer.

"What was that?" Zoisite practically shrieked while simultaneously coughing and hacking.

"Just something Priestess Shattuckite showed me years ago." Rose answered while putting away the one half of her weapon set.

"Alright, I didn't see that coming," he admitted as he got back on his feet. "Now could you please step aside so I can do something about these gross bastards?"

"Never."

"I'll tell you what: how about a fight then?"

"I don't want to fight, Zoisite. I want to make sure that you never lay your hand on any member of the human race."

"But I insist. You can destroy me right now if you really want to protect them."

"I can't. If there's one thing the priestesses taught me over the years, it's that all life is sacred. Killing you would negate that philosophy and render my life goal useless."

"Fine."

He snapped his fingers and just like that, Lemhi and Rodalquilarite had come to his side.

"You brought allies with you?" Rose asked as if betrayed.

"Well, I think it should go without saying." the white Gem answered in a dismissive manner. "Now get out of the way please. Need I remind you that you already let your golden opportunity pass by?"

Realizing what she needed to do, Rodalquilarite shapeshifted into a black bear and pinned the pink Gem down. Rose struggled to fight back as the green Gem tried her damndest to fully restrain her; by the time she managed to break free from her grasp, however, it was too late. Zoisite and Lemhi had already made it back inside and were now preparing to kill the human couple in their bed.

What happened next was Rose's worst nightmare fully realized. Zoisite grabbed both of Jared's wrists and proceeded to electrocute the man while he was sound asleep, watching with sadistic glee as the man's body jerked about in a spastic way in response to the electricity running through him. Not a minute later, the man was dead.

All this woke up Carole, who couldn't help but find herself flummoxed at a strange figure looming over her with a hatchet in hand. It didn't take long for her to notice that not only was this presumed Zoisite right beside the bed, but that her husband's body was letting off a smell reminiscent of fried chicken.

"I wanna know right now: who are you?!" she screamed at the two strangers. "Who are you and what have you done with my husband?!"

Before she could receive an answer, Lemhi and Zoisite vanished before her eyes and took Rodalquilarite with them. Right after, Rose ran back inside to find Carole fuming at what'd just happened.

"Did they hurt you?" was the first thing Rose asked the middle-aged woman as she embraced her from behind.

"No they didn't, thank God." Carole said. "I can't say the same for Jared." She turned to look at her husband's corpse. "My poor husband shouldn't have died, not like this."

"What do we tell them, Carole?"

Carole trembled with fear and grief. "I...I don't know." She couldn't bear to think about it. "I don't know if I want to go on like this..."


	13. Chapter 13

A few days later, Carole and her children were at the funeral parlor to say goodbye to their beloved husband and father Jared. Sitting beside them were Greg, Rose, Jared's parents Erin and Leroy, his sisters Priscilla and Dorothy and Barbra, and his brother Carlton. Neither Zirconia nor the rest of the Gems were present, for they'd gone on an important mission concerning giant Gem slugs.

"I'd like to welcome you to the memorial for Jared Zimmerman." said the funeral director. "Saying a few words on behalf of the departed will be his widow Carole."

Carole slowly got up out of her seat and trudged her way to the podium. As soon as she was directly facing everybody still seated, she took a deep breath and began.

"What can you say about my husband?" she asked aloud. "What the _hell_ can you say about my husband? I will admit that he wasn't the most considerate person I'd ever met nor was he the smartest or even the most talented, but he was the most committed husband and father ever. He'd... he'd always try to find time to spend with the girls or Parker because he knew, he knew that he had to be there no matter what. He especially knew that with me. He stood up for me when no one would and I'll always be grateful for that. Thank you."

With that said, she went back to her seat and sobbed quietly.

"I'm sorry this happened, Carole." Rose murmered. "I'll tell you what: next time Zoisite comes around, we'll get him."

"How do you know that?!" Carole snapped. "How do you know that he won't just go off killing more and more people than he did before?! How do you know you'll be able to stop him?"

"We know because Garnet can see into the future and because one day... I hope Zoisite realizes that everything he's ever said about the human race is wrong."

"Rose, did you even _see_ what'd happened to Jared?"

"Yes, but there's still hope I think."

Carole shook her head and sighed. So far, the Gems hadn't done much to stop him but maybe they would then.

* * *

Sure enough, a week had passed and Zoisite was back for more; like last time, he'd brought along Lemhi and Rodalquilarite for the ride. The trio once again made their way to Eureka where the Crystal Gems were waiting, and the showdown seemed inevitably closer now.

"Hi, guys!" Amethyst yelled out. "Where ya been? We were starting to think you were dead or something." She then guffawed not a minute later. "Just kidding. C'mon, Z, what are you waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for you to shut up and just throw the first punch." Zoisite snarked. "Or throw the first whip, spear, umbrella, whatever works."

"You got it!" Jade shouted right before summoning her hammer. With the weapon now in hand, she now darted her eyes towards each of the trio and asked, "Who wants to go first?"

"I volunteer!" Rodalquilarite cried out fearlessly.

"Roda, no!" Lemhi yelped. "Let us handle this! Don't you remember the last time we had to rescue you?"

"Who cares? This is my chance!"

Lemhi sighed hopelessly, knowing that she was too stubborn to be persuaded any further. "Do as you wish, then."

Rodalquilarite wiggled her butt fiercely and summoned her rampuri from her crack. With the blade now in hand, she glared with confidence at her equally-green opponent and struck first. The rampuri clashed against the base of the hammer and flew right out of her hand. Pearl was next to summon her weapon and soon the rest followed.

"Have at thee, succubus!" Pearl cried as she slashed the long spear at Zoisite's head. However, when he managed to dodge it, it aggravated her to no end. "C'mon, Zoisite! Take it like a Gem!"

"Tut, like that's supposed to scare me!" Zoisite taunted at his former child bride. "You can do better than that, can you?"

Before Pearl could retort anything, Garnet stepped in and whacked the Chancellor across the face and into a nearby wall. He immediately got back up and spat out any grayish-white blood that'd seeped from his mouth.

"Hey, you didn't even give me a chance!" the pure white Gem yelled as the remaining blood dribbled down his chin.

"You never had a chance!" Garnet yelled back.

"Oh yeah? Challenge me then!"

"You want a challenge? I'll _give_ you a challenge. Just try me, bitch!"

While Zoisite and Garnet prepared to duke it out, Lemhi and Rodalquilarite went after the rest of the Crystal Gems (mainly Amethyst, Pearl and Jade). Lemhi utilized his hatchet to the best of his ability by whacking Amethyst's whip away until it was nothing, then lifting her up in the air like she was nothing and tossing her Pearl's way. Amethyst got back up straight away and went into a spin dash attack, paving the way for several bounces off the walls in a style resembling a pinball and three times a kick in the head.

"This is intense!" Rodalquilarite announced to her companions.

"Yes, we know, Roda!" Lemhi sighed in exasperation. He _really_ didn't have time for this shit. "Now could you please just focus on Jade? She's about to charge you."

Rodalquilarite turned around and sure enough, Jade was coming right at her at full speed. With just barely enough time to think, the little green Gem threw her rampuri at Jade's shoulder and watched as the blade made its mark and dug through her skin and muscle tissue.

"Gahhh!" Jade roared as she felt her opponent's rampuri in her shoulder. "Goddamn, that hurt!"

She wrestled with the decision on whether or not to pull it out for a bit before deciding to just go with it and continue fighting.

Jade then smirked and yelled, "Hey Roda, heads up!" before underhandedly throwing the weapon into Rodalquilarite's chest gem, severely cracking it.


	14. Chapter 14

Rodalquilarite could hardly believe what'd just happened to her, but she was determined to hold on until the end... especially for Lemhi and Zoisite. She just managed to pull out her own weapon out of her gem, but with whatever strength was left, it seemed miraculous that she could still even hold it in her hands. Without even thinking, she waved to Lemhi for help.

"Roda?" Lemhi called out when he noticed the cracked gem on her chest. "Roda! Hold on! When this is over, we'll get you out of here!"

"Okay..." she mumbled while trying her damndest not to scream in pain.

Zoisite, meanwhile, did his best to avoid having Garnet curbstomp him into another wall while he shot his eye lasers at Tanzanite and Jade.

"Jade, get behind me!" the blue Gem demanded of the former gladiatress. "I have an idea."

Tanzanite immediately summoned her parasol and told her comrade of the plan to use it as a deflector. Knowing there was no time to argue over whether it would work or not, Jade decided to comply and go along with it. As soon as the next laser came to them, Tanzanite opened her fancy umbrella and began spinning it clockwise while it bounced off the high-energy beams. Suddenly, Carole's sister-in-law Barbra walked in just as the fray was heating up.

"Wha...?" asked the forty-six-year-old skunk-haired Gentile woman while trying to process what was happening in front of her. "I don't even...!"

"Uh, whoever you are," Tanzanite quickly said. "You'll have to leave. We really don't want you to end up murdered."

"Oh no, oh no, I understand completely." Barbra pulled out a handgun and started waving it in front of the Gems. "Alright! You've got thirty seconds before I blow your brains out!" However, when Zoisite glared at her for a brief moment, she retracted her threat and fled for her life.

With that pointless interruption out of the way, Zoisite started speaking again. "I hate this place, this zoo, this prison," he began. "This... _world,_ whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the atmosphere if there even _is_ such a thing. I feel drenched by it. I can taste the raw sewage humans leave behind and every time I do, I'm afraid that I've somehow been infected by it again. It's quite disgusting, isn't it?" He smirked at how speechless his opponents were. "I thought so. Now do you want to keep 'fighting the good fight' or do you want to make this quick?"

"Hold on, Zoisite!" Rodalquilarite suddenly cried again. "Maybe you should let me and Lemhi handle this."

"How's that?" he asked as if she'd described a human thing.

"We could fuse together to stop them."

"With a cracked gem like yours? Are you mad?!"

"Far from it, sir. I'd be more than happy to do something spectacular like this."

Lemhi craned his neck to get her full attention. "Are you sure this'll work?" he asked, knowing full well what in all probability could go wrong.

"I have no idea!" Rodalquilarite yelled.

Lemhi shrugged and just went along with it. The two Gems now had their hands interlocked with one another and their visages directly synced in order to make direct eye contact. They began hopping back and forth and chanting some traditional Vivianite song; this went on for three minutes, by the way. Finally, when it was over, they fused together into Fuchsite.

Fuchsite was a bright grayish-green fusion who barely inched over Rose Quartz and possessed four arms; they had an athletic build just like Lemhi except all the sinews and muscles in their body were noticeably smaller than usual. Their nose was tiny but aquiline, their lips thin but still full of collagen, and their eyes were a purplish color with green specks.

"Is that...?" Pearl was about to ask, but she found her too speechless to finish.

"Oh my God..." Rose Quartz muttered, now trembling at this new opponent.

"That's right." Fuchsite giggled menacingly. "Now I'm about to show you what it's like to be struck down on your knees and left to die."

The fusion Gem raised their arms over their head and prepared to summon both of their respective weapons. Before they could do that, however, Amethyst threw her whip around one of their wrists and started tugging them down.

"Do something, Roda!" Lemhi yelled through the fusion.

"Do what?!" Rodalquilarite panicked as Fuchsite was struggling to break free.

"I don't know! Just use your head!"

"Say no more, Lemhi!"

Not long after, Fuchsite smashed Amethyst into the ground with their forehead.

"Amethyst!" Rose yelled. "Are you okay?"

"You put the lime in the coconut and drink a bowl up..." the purple Gem muttered in response before falling unconscious.

"Alright, you bastard," Jade taunted under her breath. "Now you've really done it..."

Jade jumped out from behind Tanzanite and threw her hammer at Fuchsite's face, making them flinch from the pain. While the fusion Gem was still reeling, Garnet and Tanzanite suddenly rammed into them and started whaling on them with their weapons. Fuchsite was not about to take this lying down, however, so they threw them off as though they were just ragdolls. This left Tanzanite feeling exasperated over how powerful Fuchsite really seemed to be; it certainly didn't help matters that one of the component gems was still cracked despite enduring one hell of a beating.

"There's got to be an easier way to do this, but how?" Tanzanite asked herself.

Then it hit her. She could just impale the fusion with her parasol! She immediately acted on that instinct and watched as Fuchsite struggled to grasp what'd just happened. Then, as if wanting to further their suffering, she opened the parasol on them and the spines spread far and wide.

"No!" Fuchsite screamed as they felt their organs being rearranged without consent.

Their torment was so agonizing that it managed to shatter both of their gems simultaneously and within a matter of seconds, they were gone forever.

"Lemhi! Roda!" Zoisite shrieked in anguish. "Why?! Why did you let them destroy them like that?!" He almost felt compelled to weep out for them but he resisted the notion, knowing how futile it was to do that.

With Lemhi and Rodalquilarite now no longer by his side, he now felt such a righteous and furious anger that it was practically impossible for him to ignore it.

"Alright then," he breathed with a rapid hitch. "If we're going to take loved ones away here, I can play too. I think I'll go with... Greg Universe, the precious _human_ lover of Rose Quartz." He'd especially stressed the venomous hatred in his voice when he emphasized the word "human."

"No, I won't let you!" Rose Quartz pleaded.

In the time it took her to say that, he'd already vanished.


	15. Chapter 15

When the Crystal Gems found Greg several hours later in an empty barn a few miles away, he'd been stripped down to nothing but boxers and was visibly trembling from... something. He also seemed to be mumbling something to himself, but it was very unclear.

"Greg?" Rose asked cautiously. "What's the matter?"

"Venus..." the twenty-year-old would-be rocker was muttering. "...make my wish come true." He broke down into a sob.

"Whatever happened here clearly traumatized him." Pearl observed. "As for what he's saying, I have no idea."

"You think Zoisite might've done this?" Tanzanite asked curiously.

"I don't know. I can't really tell."

"Well, hurry up. We've got to get him back to the house!"

Tanzanite, Pearl, and Rose carried the young long-haired human male with them back to their original location inside the Zimmerman house and set him on the couch. Rose stayed behind to look after him while the others went off to try and find Zoisite again.

"Greg, are you okay?" Rose asked him sweetly.

"No, just leave me alone." he grumbled before turning away from her.

"Please talk to me. I promise it won't be so bad."

"Oh, like _you_ would know! Having some man with crystal eyes try to hurt you like he did me! I don't even know why I'm still alive right now. I should be dead right now... like my parents, like Uncle Jared..."

It was then that Rose realized what he was talking about. "I'm sorry you had to go through all these terrible things. I know what you're thinking, though, and it's not the answer."

He sniffled. "It's not?"

"No, Greg. Life is precious. It's unrelenting, yes, but it's also very wise and uplifting. My mothers taught me that every life that has ever come to being has to be cherished and appreciated in order to be understood and fully realized. Yes, there will be times when you want to end it all because something set you back by several miles but you must be strong. Not just for yourself, but for all the people that have come into your life and stayed there because they care. Can you be strong for us?"

He asserted, "Yes. Yes, I can."

"Thank you," Rose's voice started to crack. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."

She locked him in a tight embrace and tears of joy began to slide down her face. Now she knew how remarkably lucky she was to have him in her life.


End file.
